[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 169 (Friday, September 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Page 49522]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-19114]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No.: PTO-P-2021-0037]


Modification of COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or 
Office) is modifying the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program 
to accept applications until December 31, 2021. Requests that are 
compliant with the pilot program's requirements and are filed on or 
before December 31, 2021, will be accepted, even if more than 500 
requests have already been approved. The USPTO will evaluate whether to 
terminate or further extend the program during this extension.

DATES: The COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program is modified 
as of September 3, 2021 and is extended to run until December 31, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert A. Clarke, Editor of the Manual 
of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) (telephone at 571-272-7735; email 
at [email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 14, 2020, the USPTO published a 
notice for the implementation of the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination 
Pilot Program. See COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, 85 
FR 28932 (May 14, 2020) (COVID-19 Track One Notice). The COVID-19 Track 
One Notice indicated that an applicant may request prioritized 
examination without payment of the prioritized examination fee and 
associated processing fee if: (1) The application's claim(s) covered a 
product or process related to COVID-19, (2) the product or process was 
subject to an applicable Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval 
for COVID-19 use, and (3) the applicant met other requirements given in 
the COVID-19 Track One Notice. As of August 2, 2021, 120 patents have 
issued from applications granted prioritized status under the pilot 
program. The average total pendency, including time consumed by 
continued examination, from filing to issue for those applications was 
249 days. The shortest pendency from filing date to issue date for 
those applications was 75 days.
    The COVID-19 Track One Notice indicated that the pilot program 
would expire after the USPTO accepted 500 applications into the 
program. As of August 16, 2021, the USPTO had accepted 476 applications 
into the program, and there were 52 requests to participate that had 
not yet been acted upon. To ensure that applicants are not refused 
access to the pilot program due to delays in the USPTO's consideration 
of the requests to participate, the USPTO is modifying the program to 
consider on the merits any request filed on or before December 31, 
2021, even if an applicant's request to participate is not acted upon 
until after the USPTO has accepted 500 requests. The USPTO will 
evaluate whether to terminate or further extend the program during this 
extension. If the USPTO determines that a further extension of the 
pilot program is appropriate, the USPTO will publish a subsequent 
notice further extending the program.
    Unless the pilot program is further extended by a subsequent notice 
to the public, following the expiration of this extension, the pilot 
program will be terminated, and applicants may instead seek to use the 
Prioritized Examination (Track One) Program. Applications accorded 
prioritized examination under the pilot program will not lose that 
status merely because the application is pending after the date the 
pilot program is terminated. In other words, applications accepted into 
the pilot program will continue to be examined under prioritized 
examination status until that status is terminated for one or more 
reasons, as described in the COVID-19 Track One Notice.
    The Prioritized Examination (Track One) Program permits an 
applicant to have an application advanced out of turn (accorded special 
status) for examination under 37 CFR 1.102(e) if the applicant timely 
files a request for prioritized (Track One) examination accompanied by 
the appropriate fees and meets the other conditions of 37 CFR 1.102(e). 
See MPEP 708.02(b)(2). The current fee schedule is available at: 
www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/fees-and-payment/uspto-fee-schedule.
    The Track One Program does not have the restrictions of the COVID-
19 Track One Program on the types of inventions for which special 
status may be sought, as the Track One Program does not require a 
connection to any particular technology. Moreover, delays associated 
with the determination of whether an application presents a claim that 
covers a product or process related to COVID-19 and whether the product 
or process was subject to an applicable FDA approval for COVID-19 use 
will be avoided under the Track One Program.

Andrew Hirshfeld,
Commissioner for Patents, Performing the Functions and Duties of the 
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2021-19114 Filed 9-2-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P